MAC-10

Gordon Ingram designed the MAC-10 in 1965 and later, when the company he worked for, Sionics Inc, was merged into the larger Military Armament Corporation in 1970, the MAC-10 was put into production. The 9x19mm and .45 ACP versions were introduced simultaneously. The .380 ACP version was introduced later in the same year. The MAC-10 was then offered to the U.S. Military during the final years of the Vietnam War as a weapon for special operations and for support personnel, like armored units (hoping to replace the M3A1 "Grease Gun" Submachine gun as the self defense weapon of most tank crews). The MAC-10 didn't generate a lot of interest from the U.S. Military due to its small size and high rate of fire (too high it turns out for most operational uses). The lack of a foregrip motivated M.A.C. to provide a grip strap in front so that a second hand could hold down the gun and control the extreme muzzle climb when firing a long burst. But it was still an awkward weapon to fire and was most popular when mated with the efficient Sionics Two Stage Sound Suppressor. The Sionics Suppressor increased the length, quieted the sound (in a manner that was impressive for its day), and gave the shooter a stable point to grab with the second hand. CIA and SEAL units used the MAC-10 in Vietnam, and Special Ops units from other countries (Israel, UK and West Germany to name a few) have been seen wielding versions of the MAC-10 during that time period. Unfortunately no major military ever formally adopted the weapon and it was sold mostly to elite police units (foreign and domestic) as well as special covert ops units until Military Armament Corporation went bankrupt in 1976. The death knell was the U.S. Government ban on selling Silencers/Suppressors to other countries (a ban that has since been lifted). As foreign clients only wanted the MAC-10 with the Sionics Suppressor, orders fell to nothing. We can still see Ingram MAC-10s in South and Central America (usually 'gifts' from the CIA over the years) and in the armories of some European countries, but no one uses it as a 'front line' weapon any more.

Other companies then built transferable versions of the MAC-10/9, MAC-10/45 and MAC-11 : most notably RPB Industries and SWD Corporation. Only the MAC guns built by M.A.C. (when Gordon Ingram was there) can be called "Ingram MAC-10s". It is worth noting that this is not official nomenclature (Military Armament Corporation only ever called them the M10 and M11) but since it is so frequently used by dealers, collectors and firearms authorities, it has become more or less the proper name for these guns.

Note: The correct nomenclature is "MAC-10", not "Mac-10". MAC is an acronym for Military Armament Corporation.

The MAC-10 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Cobray M11/9

Cobray M11/9 - 9x19mm. This is the semiautomatic pistol, note how the selector switch is on the opposite side of the receiver and the pins are in different places on the receiver.

SWD/Cobray M11/9 SMG with folding stock - 9x19mm

The Cobray M11/9 is not a 'true MAC' in that it was an updated design 'based' on the MAC-11 blueprints by SWD Industries. Cobray was the company that emerged when SWD closed down in 1986, however SWD was the first company to design the 'elongated' M11/9 pistol that Cobray became famous for. All of the fully transferable SWD/Cobray M11 submachine guns were actually built by SWD between 1978 and 1986. Cobray continued placing the SWD logo on many of their frames, but Cobray (the new company) actually only manufactured semi-automatic pistols for public sale after 1986 until they themselves folded (for the most part) in the late 1990s (though they still exist now, selling replacement parts for their guns, they are just a shadow of their former selves).

In movies and TV shows, particularly those made in the U.S. and Canada, the M11/9 appears quite regularly as a stand-in for the MAC-10 and MAC-11, which means that it is often mistaken for the Ingram guns. When identifying MAC variants on IMFDB, look closely at the back of the receiver to see if it is elongated.